I think DeSantis is wrong on this and I also think he needs to be more careful. A decision on whether or not a school district wears masks should be made locally. What he’s doing is in the same vein as the repeated overreach that we’ve witnessed from so many Democrats over the last two years.
Local decision making is what we should all be pushing for. The federal government has outgrown its usefulness and has diminished states rights dating back to the civil war. States need to reclaim their rights from the federal government and local municipalities need to be granted more authority. The smaller the unit of government, the more efficient they are with $ and the more responsive they are to their constituents.
There is a difference between a law or mandate that forces someone to do something and one that prevents another governmental entity from making people do something.
The Florida Constitution, unlike the US Constitution, contains an
express right to privacy. (I’ll stay away from
Roe here). Our Courts refer to this a a right to be let alone. Laws and mandates which implicate the right to privacy are reviewed very strictly in Florida. The governmental entity seeking to impose such a law has the burden of showing that there is
a compelling state interest and there was no less intrusive method of accomplishing the objective.
The appeal by the State will next go to the 1st DCA which recently reversed a ruling by an Alachua County judge who upheld a county-wide mandate requiring masks. (Green v. Alachua County). The Judge that wrote the appellate opinion quoted another FSC opinion which stated: “even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten.” He then wrote “And there is this warning from William Pitt the Younger, roughly paraphrasing a similar sentiment in John Milton’s Paradise Lost: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.”
The short version is that Florida recognizes a right to be let alone and if any governmental entity, such as a school board, wants to make people do something with or to their bodies, they better have their ducks in a row and be ready to prove their way is the only way to accomplish the goal. Our appellate courts are on to the old “it’s necessary to protect you - it’s for your own good bit”. (Our trial courts are a different matter).
Not saying I know how this will turn out, but the trial court ruling is not surprising and the issue is far from over.
